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Book Review

Some Catch:

Thirty Gems Capturing the Humor and Drama of the Game,

by Bill Schaefer

I’m very happy to report that contributor Bill Schaefer’s first book,  Some Catch: Thirty Gems Capturing the Humor and Drama of the Game, is now available on Amazon in both paperback and ebook versions. Many of you have been reading Bill’s excellent essays here on the website and you know what an outstanding baseball essayist Bill is. We selected thirty of the best received and assembled them into a single volume. I was honored to serve as the editor for the project.

To give you a flavor of the book, here are some excerpts from my introduction.

Editor’s Introduction

by 

Gary Livacari

About three years ago, a reader named Bill Schaefer caught my attention with witty, insightful comments left on many of my essays. As is my custom, I invited Bill to submit a guest essay; and to no great surprise, he accepted the offer. I soon discovered he was no ordinary baseball fan. He possessed an abiding passion for the game along with a deep appreciation for its history. That invitation and the publication of his first essay subsequently led to over 30 such submissions and a friendship between two ardent fans who happen to share a love for the game and a joy in writing about it.

I learned that Bill is multi-talented with an extensive media background. At various times in his career, he’s been a broadcaster, a sports director, a voice-over announcer, and a talk show host. He had interviewed celebrities from the worlds of sports, politics, and entertainment. I like to think I played a role in helping Bill discover another talent of which he may have been unaware: that of a skilled baseball essayist. I soon recognized his preferred writing style: an engaging, casual tone often laced with personal reflections. I also loved the way Bill infused his essays with memories of games he attended with his dad. By highlighting the unique father-son bonding experiences that baseball affords its fans, Bill was capturing the very essence of the game’s appeal—an appeal that has transcended generations.

I could cite many passages from Bill’s essays demonstrating his clever “way with the written word.” Here’s just a small sampling:

Rube Waddell: “When George Edward Waddell was born October 13, 1876, in Bradford, PA, the cosmos held its breath, with a sense that this was going to be no ordinary human being.”

Herman Franks’ coaching ability: “In early June, Leo Durocher replaced Herman Franks in the third-base coaching box. Franks was so cautious he thought twice before waving a runner around third base on a home run.”

I love this delightful passage (slightly edited), which I’m quoting at length, from a game he attended with his dad on a blazing hot Sunday afternoon at the Polo Grounds, June 12, 1952. It captures Bill’s excellent recall and attention to detail, even for events that took place over 70 years ago. The Giants had erupted for an eleven-run lead after three innings. It appeared an easy victory was just ahead for young Bill Schaefer’s Jints:

On this Sunday, my dad and I were at the Polo Grounds to catch a twin bill with those Cardinals. We didn’t mind the heat so much but didn’t bargain for such a huge crowd precluding us from getting our favorite seats in the upper deck behind home plate…I had consumed one soda and two ice creams by the second inning. It was broiling hot but turning into a wonderful event. Sal Maglie was pitching and the Giants exploded for five runs in the bottom of the second…I was in my glory, never mind the heat, 11-0 at the end of three innings with Sal “The Barber” Maglie on the mound!

Then the gods turned on us. Sal suddenly wilted in the inferno and got rocked in the fifth inning. St. Loo put up a big SEVEN! Willie Werle came in and shackled the Giants’ bats. Hoyt Wilhelm had a rare ragged outing and by the end of seven innings, the score was 11-10. The vendors ran out of refreshments, so I sent my poor dad out to the concession stand to battle the heat and the mob for soda. He was gone a while and finally made his way down the crowded row juggling two large soda containers. He got jostled and some spilled on his shirt.

When he got to me he was livid. “What happened?” he shouted. I answered meekly, “Solly Hemus just hit a home run into the photographer’s ledge in right field (an overhang from the upper deck facade). We’re behind 12-11. He exploded, “Don’t you EVER send me out for soda pop again!”

Bill intersperses more than a touch of humor to the essays. Here’s a story—one I had never heard—involving the loveable, always quotable, Yogi Berra, whom Bill had also once interviewed:

Berra was the sweetest guy in the world, and although seldom mistaken for a Rhodes Scholar, he was nothing short of a genius on the field…A radio interviewer once told him before a broadcast, ‘We’re going to do free association. I’m going to throw out a few names and you just say the first thing that pops into your mind.’ Berra agreed.

On the air the announcer said, ‘I’m here tonight with Yogi Berra, and we’re going to play free association. I’m going to mention a name and Yogi’s just going to say the first thing that comes to mind. Okay, Yogi?’ Berra again agreed.

All right, here we go then…Mickey Mantle.

“What about him?” said Berra.

Readers will enjoy all thirty of Bill’s “gems.” Some of my favorites include our leadoff essay, “Rube Waddell, the Ultimate Zany.” Others of note: “Bill Schaefer’s 20 Minutes with Willie Mays (and how he secured a surprise interview with the great star); “Baseball Funny Side Up!” After rereading many of the essays while preparing this publication, I told Bill I was enjoying them even more on the second reading. Like a fine wine, I told him, they seemed to improve with age.

You also won’t want to miss Bill’s “Snap Shots of a Giants’ Fan Through a Surreal Season,” in which Bill recounts the Giants’ magical year of 1951. The essay culminates in Bill’s account of Bobby Thomson’s historic “Shot Heard Round the World.” Written from the perspective of a lifelong Giants’ fan—and someone who actually has a first-hand recollection of the day— it serves as the centerpiece of the collection.

And so, after a number of years of adding quality baseball content to my website and bringing much joy to my readers, I’m happy to present Bill Schaefer’s Thirty Gems as a way of paying back this self-proclaimed baseball fanatic. An acknowledged baseball expert and a fine baseball essayist, Bill also happens to be a good friend. I hope you derive as much pleasure from reading it as I had in putting it together.

Gary Livacari 

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